Ilia Topuria will make his first featherweight title defense against former champion Max Holloway in the main event of UFC 308.
UFC CEO Dana White announced the bookings Saturday morning. In the night’s co-main event, Robert Whittaker will face Khamzat Chimaev in a middleweight showdown. Other notable bouts include light heavyweight Magomed Ankalaev vs. Aleksandar Rakic and the previously reported heavyweight bout between Cyril Gane and Alexander Volkov. UFC 308 takes place on October 26 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
Topuria won featherweight gold on Feb. 17 at UFC 298 with a second-round knockout of Alexander Volkanovski. The Spain native holds a 15-0 record as a professional, which includes wins in his first seven fights inside the Octagon and other notable wins over the likes of Josh Emmett and Bryce Mitchell.
The 32-year-old Holloway has not held the featherweight belt since vacating the title in a fifth-round loss to Volkanovski at UFC 245 in 2019. Despite a 0-3 record against his Australian rival, Holloway remains one of the top contenders at 145 pounds, defeating the likes of Calvin Kattar, Yair Rodriguez, Arnold Allen and Chan Sung Jung in recent years. In his last bout, the popular Hawaiian knocked out Justin Gaethje in fifth round to win the BMF belt at UFC 300.
Whittaker was originally scheduled to face Chimaev in the main event of UFC Saudi Arabia on June 22, but Chimaev withdrew from the event due to illness. The former middleweight champion has won three of his last four bouts at the Las Vegas-based UFC and is fresh off a first-round knockout of Ikram Aliskerov in the main event of UFC on ABC 6.
Chimaev boasts a 13-0 career record but has slowed somewhat due to inactivity in recent years. “Bolz” has fought just once in 2023, winning by majority decision over Kamaru Usman in his 185-pound debut at UFC 294.
Ankalaev began his 2024 season with a second-round knockout win over Johnny Walker in a rematch on Jan. 13 at UFC Fight Night 234. The 32-year-old Dagestanian boasts a career record of 18-1-1, including wins over Anthony Smith, Thiago Santos, Volkan Oezdemir and Nikita Krylov.
After suffering a knee injury in a loss to Jan Blachowicz in May 2022, Rakic returned to action at UFC 300, losing by second-round TKO to Jiri Prochazka. Prior to that, “The Rocket” had won six of his first seven bouts in the Octagon.
Gane and Volkov first met in the main event of UFC Fight Night 190 in June 2021, with the Frenchman winning via five-round unanimous decision. Former interim heavyweight champion Gane failed to capture the undefeated belt twice, losing a unanimous decision to Francis Ngannou at UFC 270 and a first-round submission to Jon Jones at UFC 285. Following his loss to Jones, “Bon Gamin” returned with a second-round TKO win over Sergey Spivak at UFC Fight Night 226 in September of this year.
Volkov, a former Bellator MMA and M-1 Global champion, is yet to challenge for UFC gold since joining the company in 2016. The 35-year-old Russian boxer has won his last four bouts, including a three-round decision win over former training partner Sergey Pavlovich at UFC on ABC 6 on June 22.
